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Rating: Two years after "Magica" (an album clearly inspired by the seventies era of Rainbow), the release of "Killing The Dragon" was announced. It was intended by its creator as the album that would revive the stylistic approach to hard-hitting rock. A sort of hard'n'heavy revival in "Holy Diver" style.
Some time ago, I read an interview with the singer in which he explained that he was a terrible guitarist, admitting his compositional dependency on those he collaborated with from time to time. This explains the uncertainties and flatness of "Killing The Dragon". With Craig Goldie out (although this album still bears his signature on some tracks), Doug Aldrich was recruited, an axe-man as virtuous as he is artistically outdated and surpassed (and to think he was introduced by Ronnie as the stylistic heir to Viv Campbell... well...). Let's add that Simon Wright has now permanently replaced behind the drums the imposing Vinny Appice, and in some pieces, perhaps due to his past with AC/DC, he contributes not a little to flattening the rhythm section (especially in the more intense tracks).
Specialist magazines wrote "an album for the fans". Food for chickens, we would translate. It pains me to say it, because Ronnie Dio has contributed to the history of a genre, but the facts are that these are now elderly people who have lived off music all their lives and wish to continue doing so even now. Hence, this anxious choice of a return to the past. Today, indeed, there are many historical bands in metal and hard rock that, for a handful of extra dollars, have taken the path of recycling their famous past endlessly.
However, even leaving aside the discussions of artistic purity, the point is that this album does not resonate either at the first or the hundredth listen. Yes, the title track is catchy, there are some other appreciable hints here and there, like the "main riffs" of "Scream" and "Push", but apart from that, the rest does not hold up at all to the masterpieces of the first half of the eighties (nor even to the more experimental ones of the following decade). Just to mention some episodes: "Rock'n'Roll" is at times a case of legal plagiarism, "Better In The Dark" also sounds overused and already heard. Finally, in the series "cabbages at teatime", there is "Throw Away The Children" that wants to be an inspired piece. The track actually suffers from the presence of Aldrich, who ruins the atmospheres with that damn polished sound reminiscent of eighties glamsters (at least they could have updated the sounds). And on and on, more or less like this throughout the album, between a copied riff, a demanding solo to no purpose, and so many ideas as old as the hills.
It's sad to say, the dragon may not be dead yet, but it certainly doesn't roar anymore. An album born out of the nostalgia market.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Killing the Dragon (04:26)
Silence - we hunt for the queen
Sign of the cross
And pray in-between
Look by the light of the day
She's hiding till dark
Waiting to play hey-hey
Something's taken a child
And it all must end
Time to be killing the dragon again
Silence - we'll hunt for the lord
He takes crimson and gold
Gave ice to the cold
Oh to be never afraid
Of wolves at the door
Howling for more
More's been empty for years
And it all must end
Time to be killing the dragon again
Kneel and behold your new king
Digital dreams
And wonderful things to tease you
Small gods with electrical hearts
And it all will end
Time to be killing the dragon
02 Along Comes a Spider (03:33)
Remember when you only needed no one
Every day's tomorrow
And it's all right
No confessions - not for you
Forget the things you've done
It's what you'll do
The first time you're suspicious
What's that gliding down
Along comes a spider
Suddenly the world has no more changes
You've run with an evil woman
So it's all right
No more strangers' candy lies
The light is so much better for your eyes
Now I'm not superstitious
But every time you've tried
Along comes a spider
Don't ask why - it's the long way around
Just go wild
Why do we believe in conversation
We never seem to listen
We only hear
Now you don't need permission
But don't get caught next time
Along comes a spider
A spider
A spider
Inside her
03 Scream (05:02)
You've made it through another day
Driving past the backroads of your mind
You could have turned the other way
And break down on the sanity you've found inside you
Someone said that you are fantasy
But in the darkness
Behind your smile
You scream
Scream
Scream for the crazy ones
Scream at the things you've done
Scream at the rising sun
We bless the beautiful
Let us forgive you for your sins
These must be holy ones
How could we believe they'd let us in
Oh, once I heard that they were fantasy
But in the darkness
Behind their smiles
They scream
Scream
Scream of a broken heart
Scream as they come apart
Scream cause they never started
Scream
No pain
No sympathy
You've always been so steady at the wheel
Some friend reality
You break down on the highway
About to see it my way
Scream at the crazy ones
Scream cause they all have sons
Scream as they point the gun at you
Scream at the bleeding heart
Scream cause the end won't start
Scream as you come apart again
Again, again, again...
06 Push (04:08)
You've ridden on a carousel
So you know the feeling
As the ring slips through your fingers
Sometimes you justify it
But there's the sword
And you're bleeding once again
Before you're in a corner
Can't crawl away
Here's a way to save you
You gotta push
Get out of my way and push
You can turn the wheel
Push
One more push
You're master of the broken heart
And so you know the feeling
As your soul starts going under
Sometimes you rectify it
Then out of the blue
The hammer falls again
Before you're in the water
Can't sail away
Here's a way to save you
You gotta push
Break the body down
Oh push
Out of my way I'll push
You better push
You gotta push
Hands against the wall
And push
Out of my way we'll push
You can turn the wheel
Go on and push
Push
Push
Push
Push
07 Guilty (04:26)
He'd never tell her lies
And she believed in magic
But when the magic died
She could see that all along he's just been
Guilty - a liar, liar
Guilty
Guilty - burn in fire
Guilty
It's time to say goodbye
Don't tell another story
Another alibi
Now you see that all along he's just been
Guilty - a liar, liar
Guilty
Guilty - you burn in fire
Guilty
Guilty - the great pretender
Guilty
You're guilty - just surrender cause you're guilty
Broken promise
But please forgive again
One more time for me
It's the very last time - you'll see
Guilty - liar, liar
You'll burn in fire
Guilty - liar, liar
Guilty
Guilty - the great pretender
Guilty
Guilty - just surrender, you're guilty
Guilty, guilty, guilty
A liar, liar
Guilty - you'll burn in fire
Oh guilty, you'll burn in fire
Surrender - guilty
So guilty
10 Cold Feet (04:13)
Tired of living in the black and white?
Where fools can tell you that you're never right
I know a place where the film's in color
Just step inside of yourself
Here's a place in the front row
So on with the show
The same old shadow on the run
That's no shadow, it's your shadow's son
I know a place where the pools got water
And you don't need to know how to swim
Here's the key to the back door
Do you want more
Do you need more?
Same old rhythm to the same old rhyme
The same old clock - same old time
There's a place where the grass is greener
And you can shake, rattle and roll
Here's the key to the front door
Do you want more
Will you need more?
Tired of living in the black and white
Where no-one's wrong and you're never right
Same old steps to the same old dance
Just one more reason - one more chance
Oh
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